By Shalini Joshi BBC News, Dehradun

Elephants' habitats are under threat from human activity

Forest officials said the villagers cut the 35-year-old animal into pieces and buried the carcass near the Rajaji National Park.

Experts believe the villagers' anger at the destruction of their crops by elephants may have led to the killing.

Poaching does not seem to have been a motive as the tusks were not taken.

Three people had been arrested in connection with the killing which happened nearly a week ago, an official said.

Dwindling habitat

For some time, local villagers have been demanding the erection of an electric fence in the area to keep elephants away from their property.

Last year, a female elephant was also killed in the same area.

Rajaji National Park , the largest habitat of Asian elephants in the world, is spread over an area of 825 sq km.

There are some villages inside the park, while there are a few on its fringes.